Get It Organized: 5 Ways to Declutter Your Bedroom

It’s so easy to let a bedroom turn chaotic, tossing your clothes around as you slip into PJs. As the room of the home where we spend little of our conscious time, the bedroom often gets placed last on that never-ending organizing to-do list. And it never seems to move up on the list. Instead, the bedroom becomes a catch-all for everything you didn’t know where to put in the rest of the house.

You might be surprised to learn that observing those piles of laundry on the floor or bric-a-brac strewn across the top of the dresser before nodding off can actually cause unconscious stress and disrupt your sleep. For your own sanity, take time to organize your sleeping space. Tackle common problem areas with these tips to streamline your bedroom.

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Start with the closet.

With a collection of unworn clothes and shabby shoes hidden among the items you actually wear, the closet is often THE clutter hot spot in the bedroom.

Go through clothes, shoes, bags and belts. Donate or toss items with holes or rips, anything too grimy even for mowing, items that don’t fit and items that you haven’t worn or used in four months or more. Be ruthless! Reducing clutter in the closet will make it easier to find the clothes you love to wear, and dare I say it, make room for more. Only a couple of new pieces, okay?

Do this same process with the dresser. I like to take all of the items out of one drawer at a time and force myself to cut the pile in half. While it sounds painful (and sometimes is), after I’m done, I never even miss the clothes I tossed away.

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Move on to the nightstand.

After the challenge of trimming down the closet, you deserve a little break. The nightstand shouldn’t be too difficult to declutter.

Remove any items that don’t belong there. Slide any books you’re not reading back onto the shelves where they came from. Put lotions and nail files back in the bathroom. Keep only the items you absolutely have to have within reach of the bed. Hmm... maybe I should put the coffee maker on my nightstand. Just kidding.

If the nightstand easily gets messy, maybe you should consider adding shelves near by.

Tackle the mysterious space under the bed.

Do you even know what’s under your bed? I mean, when was the last time you even looked?

Pull everything out. Think about what you stored there. If you have seasonal clothes or extra bedding, that’s fine. But if all you find is junk you shoved under there because you didn’t know where else to put it, get rid of it. The space under the bed makes great (organized!) storage. Try our neat trick of using old dresser drawers as under bed storage.

Rethink placing the home office in the bedroom.

If you’ve assembled a mini home office in your bedroom, you may want to consider moving it. The space where you sleep shouldn’t be a constant reminder of those possible emails you might be receiving. Anywhere else in the home - even a desk tucked into a small corner - would be a better location.

Consider using less furniture.

A clear space creates a more soothing environment for sleep. Large, bulky pieces of furniture will dominate the room. Consider getting rid of unnecessary furniture in the bedroom to create a light, airy space.

If you still can’t seem to reduce the clutter in your bedroom, it’s time for tougher tactics. I recommend watching one of those hoarding TV shows. After one episode you’ll want to get rid of everything you own.